Tessa's Recipe Rundown...

Taste: Ultra chocolatey and decadent. I love pairing this with fresh raspberries, it’s a wonderful combination.Texture: Definitely the best part of lava cakes! The cake itself is moist and tender around the edges but once you get into that molten ooey gooey rich and thick lava filling it is HEAVEN on earth.Ease: So surprisingly easy. I don’t know why I was ever intimidated to make these. AND they can be made ahead of time.Appearance: Gwahhhhjussss. Like a fancy schmancy restaurant dessert.Pros: One of my all time favorite desserts, and it’s easy! Perfect for Valentine’s day.Cons: Decadent.Would I make this again? YES. I fell in love with this recipe the first time I used it in culinary school and it is a go-to for special occasion desserts.

Chocolate lava cakes might be one of my favorite things on the entire planet. So that means this recipe is particularly dangerous.

It’s too quick and easy not to want to make these babies all the time. They look so complicated and intimidating, like something you’d only get to indulge in at a restaurant.

I made a video for you guys to show you how truly easy they are. You can’t mess these up, as long as you don’t overcook them!

I remember the first time I ever ate a chocolate lava cake at a local restaurant that soon became a family favorite throughout my childhood. I think that was the moment I became a true chocoholic.

Because seriously, what’s better than that molten filling!?

There are so many possibilities with these chocolate lava cakes to switch up the flavor profile and plate presentation. Add in a tablespoon of espresso powder to the batter for a mocha flavor, or a tablespoon or two of flavored liqueur such as Grand Marnier or Chambord.

I served my chocolate lava cakes with some fresh raspberries and powdered sugar. You could also do strawberries, fresh mint, whipped cream, ice cream, or whatever your heart desires.

Feel free to halve this recipe if you don’t want to have 6 lava cakes on hand, which can be dangerous since the batter can be made, divided into ramekins, and refrigerated for a day to make ahead of time. I usually make the full recipe and we just have a crazy chocolate lava cake weekend.

How to make

Chocolate Lava Cakes

Chocolate Lava Cakes are ultra right, decadent, and gourmet but surprisingly simple! Make them for Valentine's Day this year, just follow the video to see how they're made. Can be made ahead of time!

Ingredients

1/2cup(100 grams) granulated sugar, plus more for coating ramekins

8ounces(227 grams) semisweet chocolate, chopped

10tablespoons(142 grams) unsalted butter

1/2cup(64 grams) all-purpose flour

1/2teaspoonsalt

4large eggs

4large egg yolks

1teaspoonvanilla extract

Fresh raspberries or strawberries

Powdered sugar, for garnish

Directions

Preheat the oven to 425°F. Spray 6 (6-ounce, 170 gram) ramekins with nonstick baking spray. Coat the insides of the buttered ramekins with granulated sugar, tapping out the excess.

Combine the chocolate and butter in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on high for 1 minute. Stir, then continue heating in 30 second bursts, stirring between bursts, until the mixture is melted and smooth. Alternatively, melt the chocolate and butter in a double boiler. Gently stir in the flour and salt.

In a medium bowl vigorously whisk the eggs, egg yolks, vanilla, and the 1/2 cup of granulated sugar until thick and pale in color. Gently fold in the melted chocolate mixture into the egg mixture. Divide the batter among the ramekins.

MAKE AHEAD:

At this point the batter-filled ramekins can be covered and refrigerated for up to 1 day.

Bake for about 10 minutes, or until the edges are firm but the center is runny. Add an additional minute of baking time if baking straight from the fridge.

Run a knife around the edges to loosen and invert onto dessert plates, if desired. You can also serve straight from the ramekin. Serve with fresh berries and powdered sugar.

Recipe Notes

You can bake the batter in 10 paper-lined muffin tins for 10 minutes for smaller, more portable servings. You can also easily cut this recipe in half.

Course:
Dessert

Cuisine:
American

If you make this recipe, be sure to snap a picture and share it on Instagram with #handletheheat so we can all see!

Recipe byTessa

About Tessa...

I share trusted baking recipes your friends will LOVE alongside insights into the science of sweets. I'm a professionally trained chef, cookbook author, and cookie queen. I love to write about all things sweet, carb-y, and homemade. I live in Phoenix, Arizona (hence the blog name!)

These look unreal!!! Just curious though – since the centre is liquidy and contains eggs is there a chance that they’re unsafe for pregnant women to consume? Or do they bake long enough for the eggs to pasteurize?

I hesitate to make any recommendations one way or another for pregnancy-safe foods. With the amount of chocolate lava cake recipes that exist that are similar to this one I would say it should be fine, but that’s really the decision of the pregnant person eating. If you’re really concerned you can use pasteurized eggs, preferably whole pasteurized eggs like Safest Choice Eggs: http://www.safeeggs.com/

Made these lase night, sorry to say but they were not very good. I made exactly by the recipe, and they had a rubbery texture. I did make the batter ahead of time and refrigerated for about 5 hours. Maybe that’s what did it, but recipe said it’s ok to do. I would not make this recipe again.

I found you on Instagram and just made these for Valentines Day and there were AMAZING! I added espresso for a little extra kick!

I had to bake longer because I used 20oz mugs. But I was wondering if something else made a difference as well. I noticed you wrote “Gently fold in the melted chocolate mixture into the egg mixture”, but in your video, you added the egg mixture into the melted chocolate. I followed the written recipe, but in your video, your batter looks smoother than mine did. I know it could be that I didn’t blend it properly, but I was just wondering if there was a difference.

Also, is it ok to store any leftovers in the refrigerator after it has cooled?

Hi. I usually end up with amazing stuff when I follow your recipes but somehow, this went wrong.
The lava cake was dense! It wasn’t like a cake. It was all clogged up (super dense ). I don’t know what I did wrong 🙁
Could you please help me out?
Thank you!

This took closer to 15-20 minutes to bake so that it was set enough to remove from the ramekins, but they were delicious once they got there. I checked my oven thermometer and it was at the right temp so I’m not sure why it took almost double the recommended time.

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